She Works Hard for the Money

The whole BoP Blood thing in Legion rumbles on (no it’s not controversy, just design choice) This little addition to the US Forum Post on why Blood is BoP does two things in my mind:

Developers clearly understand that there’s a insufficient supply of Blood currently in game for those who do not either gather or fish (easiest obtainable sources as I see them.)

Developers have no desire or intention to make Blood freely available at launch, which would (IMO) negate pretty much any crafting recipes that uses the reagent.

In other words, no it won’t be either BoA or BoE at launch. If you’d like it and you don’t gather? You’ll still have to ‘work’ for it if it matters for your gear.

Stop looking at me like that, will you? ^^

Look, let’s stop the blog post right here. I have been gaming for a very long time, and if there is one thing I can say with 110% certainty at this point is that cheating is pointless. God Mode is great in small doses but when you can hack infinite money and resources? There’s a different level of satisfaction that wasn’t what the designers of this game originally intended. Here’s the key: if someone makes you a game to play, however simple it might be, where is real enjoyment derived? When my kids come home from school with board games, what matters most to them: that I play the game, or I appreciated the effort placed in the design? For the latter it’s undoubtedly a bit of both, but in the former where there’s no emotional attachment to the people creating? Then the rules change, and here’s the bigger problem when anyone talks about why games work and then they don’t. You have to place an emotional investment in the process.

That’s all well and good until the designers introduce difficulty.

@AlternativeChat Can you call someone who sticks to bunny slopes a snowboarder? However, even casual 30 over par golfers are called golfers.

There’s a larger discussion in all of this over what constitutes difficulty, of course, quite apart from how we’d define gaming as a starting point. In the case of Warcraft, you have to look at what Activision Blizzard presents as content to define the entry point: Legion is quite obviously a very planned and considered response to the idea that there aren’t enough things to do for players who don’t raid or play dungeons. Now, if you choose to consider just those who raid and dungeon as competitive, that’s not the whole truth either. I can not raid, occasionally dungeon and do my utter utmost to make sure that’s to the best of my ability. I remain competitive, with myself. After all, nobody else cares if I have 300 Toys except me, or if I’ve collected all the Transmog looks in game. If I cannot derive satisfaction in the medium of World First or Top Guild? Why am I playing? There’s such a complex set of variables around the idea of why this game does ANYTHING that it can be difficult to distil any universal truths from our observations.

@AlternativeChat Always do newer harder things when you feel comfortable <3 Only way to get better at something.

This is the first one. You could argue that’s how competitive begins in any person, too: when the same thing isn’t enough any more, there’s the temptation to just do more, and in gaming terms that’s the vital fist step out of the comfort zone to something more challenging. Of course, for those who play inside virtual worlds as a means to escape the competitive nature of real life? Not so much. You are here to simply exist with friends, relax and be comfortable, tinker and potter without the need for the push to improve. The problem comes when, happy and safe in this bubble, something comes along that forces you to change. That was the flying thing, too, like it or not. I think we can both agree that nobody emerged from that discussion totally covered in glory, and Activision Blizzard’s have clearly learnt some salutatory lessons as a result. However, as long as Blood of Sargeras remains BoP, they’re the enemy to those who’s argument centres around how this should be about ease of use and not gating content for ‘the select few.’

This is the bigger issue, in the end: Activision Blizzard have, pretty much for their entire lifespan, produced games with a competitive element within them. No, you absolutely don’t have to play like that, and yes there is completely an element of fun with what anyone does, but that remains subjective. I would argue that the moment you remove the competitive from Blizzard titles, they cease to be Blizzard’s aim. Ironically, the reason why Warcraft has been so successful in eleven years boils down to this argument of @Alisrafil1’s post: you cannot call anyone less worthy for choosing their path, because that is theirs to tread and not yours to dictate. The problem, as far as I see it, is when people think this is what Activision Blizzard is trying to do. If I choose to define competitive in a certain way, there are inevitably consequences, and the pedants all rush in with dictionaries and shake their heads at me.

I’m sorry, guys, I’m almost done now.

Legion’s crafting system is supposed to make both the very casual and the very hardcore work in the same way. It forces players, regardless of their ability, to make choices based on what is presented to them. In this case, if you want to use Blood you gather on a character? You’ll need a crafting profession to go with it. Now, this may not be your answer, or the best answer, but it is the one that the Devs have decided to go with, and as yet there is no compelling reason for them to change their minds. That means, as players we have a choice whether to accept this or not. I for one welcome our new Craftin Overlords, but am well aware I’m a vocal minority on this one. So be it. When the game goes live in August, undoubtedly Activision Blizzard will look at the numbers and decide then.

I have no problem working at games, because I want to be a better player. Your definition of gaming, undoubtedly, will vary.